Westinghouse Debuts EnCore, Accident Tolerant Fuel Solution

Westinghouse Electric Company today formally launched its
accident-tolerant fuel solution, EnCoreTM Fuel. The
announcement was made during the company’s Fuel Users’ Group Meeting,
attended by nuclear fuel customers from around the world.

“Westinghouse is aggressively pursuing the benefits of accident tolerant
fuel for our customers,” said Michele DeWitt, senior vice president,
Nuclear Fuel. “As the leading supplier of nuclear fuel and components
globally, Westinghouse has developed a world-class network of research,
design and manufacturing partners. We are leveraging the breadth and
depth of our resources, combined with U.S. Department of Energy awards,
as well as utility funding, to collaborate with respected industry
partners in order to deliver EnCore Fuel to the market on an aggressive,
accelerated schedule. We are on track to manufacture EnCore Fuel lead
test rods as early as 2018, with lead test assembly insertion planned
starting in 2022.”

EnCore Fuel is intended to offer design-basis-altering safety, greater
uranium efficiency and estimated economic benefits up to hundreds of
millions of dollars to Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel customers. Delivered
in two phases, the initial EnCore Fuel product is comprised of coated
cladding containing uranium silicide pellets, which sets EnCore Fuel
apart from other accident-tolerant fuel solutions because of the
pellets’ higher density and higher thermal conductivity. The reduced
oxidation and hydrogen pickup of the coated cladding during normal
operation (250° - 350°C) is intended to prolong cladding life, provide
enhanced resistance to wear and increase margins.

The coated cladding also supports extended exposure to high temperature
steam and air (1300° - 1400°C) during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA),
reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) and beyond-design-basis conditions.

The second phase of EnCore Fuel features silicon-carbide (SiC) cladding,
which is intended to offer significant safety benefits in
beyond-design-basis accident scenarios, enabled by its extremely high
melting point (2800°C or higher) and minimal reaction with water,
resulting in minimal generation of heat and hydrogen in
beyond-design-basis accident scenarios.